Amid all the coaching carousel chaos, Kalani Sitake made it clear earlier this week that he didn’t want rumors surrounding his name being floated for the Penn State job to be a distraction. He told his team Tuesday that he wasn’t going anywhere and he was fully committed to BYU, helping them get their focus ready for the all important Big 12 title game.
By Saturday, Sitake realized the challenges posed at BYU, ones he might not have had to worry about at Penn State. BYU needed a conference title to help the Big 12 be a two-bid league in the College Football Playoff appearance. Had he jumped ship to the Big Ten, well, they currently have three teams in the CFP field.
I don’t blame him for turning down the Penn State job, but with it came a harsh reality that competing in the Big 12 will always complicate College Football Playoff aspirations. Since the College Football Playoff’s inception, the Big 12 has never had multiple teams in the field at the same time. Though they have had four teams reach it since 2014, never at the same time.
Kalani Sitake got brutal reminder how hard it is to be championship contender at BYU
You have to give Sitake credit for how he’s turned BYU into a continuous threat in the Big 12. But the last two seasons with the expansion of the CFP and since 2014 when the CFP first started, BYU has been a non-factor. This year particularly was proof of how little the CFP selection committee thinks about the Big 12.
Until a team truly solidifies itself as a national contender year-after-year, the parity of the Big 12 will always keep it as a one-bid league. Sitake didn’t want to abandon what he built at the school he once played at. You can’t discredit him for that. But it means his job of delivering on a College Football Playoff appearance will be that much harder.
The Penn State job was only better than BYU for that reason. At Penn State, Sitake would have all the resources and conference respect to make a push for the CFP and possibly a national championship. I’m not saying BYU will never get to the CFP, but it will always be at the mercy of the conference title game because history shows only one Big 12 team will get in.
It wasn’t a bad season by any means for BYU, whose only two losses are to one team. But two losses as a Big 12 team isn’t quite as respectable as two losses as a Big Ten team. Oregon is fortunate enough to get into the CFP and not have to worry about winning the conference championship to do so. That’s the luxury of the Big Ten and what Sitake passed up.
Will Kalani Sitake ever reach a College Football Playoff at BYU?
It’s very realistic for Sitake to reach the CFP at BYU, but it will always come down to the Big 12 title game. As long as Texas Tech continues to run the conference, it will be increasingly difficult for the Cougars or any other Big 12 team to get in, certainly with an at-large bid. Unless BYU starts scheduling Big Ten and SEC teams with their non-conference games, it’s a long shot.
The expanded 12-team playoff opens up the door for more teams to get in, but the College Football Playoff selection committee plays favorites and unfortunately, that doesn’t include the Big 12. That means if Sitake wants to break into the field, he’ll need a Texas Tech level leap in the future.
The Big 12 will always be treated as lesser than, compared to the SEC and Big Ten. That’s why an 11-2, No. 11 ranked BYU team gets left out of the CFP field, despite reaching the conference title game. In the Big Ten, there would be a lot more room for error. That’s what Sitake gave up when he re-committed to BYU. It could ultimately haunt him if he never gets to the CFP too.